Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) is facing a delicate test of his leadership over the House Democratic Caucus after two centrists crossed party lines and helped Republicans force a politically fraught vote on condemning socialism and the Democratic Socialists of America.
Reps. Jared Golden (D-ME) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA) were the only Democrats to vote in favor of bringing to the full House floor a package of bills that included a GOP-led resolution denouncing socialism as well as the Democratic Socialists of America. Golden and Gluesenkamp Perez provided the margin to prevent a tie, which under House rules is the same as a measure failing outright.
The defections mark a rare occasion of Democratic members breaking from leadership on a procedural measure, which are typically seen as tests of party unity. Adding insult to injury, the defections came even as GOP hard-liners were ready to paralyze the House over an unrelated dispute with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on funding the government.
Jeffries told reporters the defections were a “significant breach of trust.” The Democratic leadership, consisting of Jeffries, Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA), and Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar (D-CA), went a step further Tuesday evening by signaling there would be repercussions.
“The decision by two of our colleagues to blindside the entire House Democratic Caucus and join with the Republican majority to pass a procedural rule on the brink of failing represents a significant breach of trust,” the trio said. “It is an action that necessitates a serious response, and we have asked the Committee on Caucus Rules to take this up in short order.”
What that “serious response” will entail remains unclear, and Jeffries has limited leverage over either of the two defectors.
Golden is retiring at the end of the year after passing on opportunities to run for the U.S. Senate or governor of Maine. That leaves Democratic leaders with few political incentives they can withhold from him, particularly while in the minority and unable to offer much in the way of legislative rewards.
Gluesenkamp Perez presents the opposite problem. She is facing a difficult reelection fight in a district President Donald Trump carried in 2024, making her seat one Democrats need to hold to win the House majority and put Jeffries in the speaker’s chair.
Punishing Gluesenkamp Perez too aggressively could therefore carry its own political cost.
But allowing the episode to pass without meaningful consequences could create a different problem for Jeffries, particularly as socialists and their allies seize on the defections to question his ability to enforce party discipline.
Emma Vigeland, a DSA member and the co-host of the progressive Majority Report, said after Tuesday’s vote that Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was “no leftist, but she could whip her caucus.”
“She would never have been left in the dark like this,” Vigeland wrote. “Jeffries is bad at the basics of his job, and passing the buck onto Katherine Clark is poor leadership. NFL quarterbacks talk like this before they’re benched.”
Hanging over the criticism is that members of the New York City DSA chapter, who were instrumental in helping elect socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani last year, are threatening to primary Jeffries in 2028.
JEFFRIES BLINDSIDED AFTER TWO HOUSE DEMOCRATS JOIN GOP TO FORCE VOTE ON DENOUNCING SOCIALISM
Republicans were quick to take advantage of the Democratic disarray on Tuesday. Soon after Golden and Gluesenkamp Perez helped bring the socialism resolution to the floor, Johnson held a full House vote on the measure.
It passed with the support of eight House Democrats, including Golden and Gluesenkamp Perez. The defections came even as Jeffries argued the resolution was unacceptable because it also included language endorsing the SAVE America Act — the GOP’s signature voter ID bill.